Israel Approves New Standard for Uniform Apartment Size Measurement

Israel's Ministry of Justice, through its Land Appraisers Council, has approved a new standard, 9.1, designed to replace the older standard 9.0 and establish a uniform definition for 'apartment area.' This initiative aims to reduce discrepancies in measurement and interpretation within the real estate market, thereby increasing certainty and transparency for apartment buyers, developers, and other industry stakeholders.

The new standard is a result of work by a professional committee formed about a year ago by the Ministry of Justice's Valuation Standards Committee. This committee included representatives from relevant government ministries such as Construction and Housing, the Survey of Israel, the Central Bureau of Statistics, and the Interior Ministry, alongside representatives from the Israel Builders Association. The goal was to address professional issues that remained unresolved even after the adoption of standard 9.0 in 2006, which was also incorporated into the Sale of Apartments Law.

Previously, multiple measurement methods led to significant gaps between the area advertised by developers, the area registered in the Land Registry, and how various authorities measured properties. Standard 9.0 stipulated that apartment area should include interior space, plus exterior wall thickness and half the thickness of shared walls, as well as bomb shelters, storage rooms, and covered service areas under certain conditions, and covered balconies. However, ambiguities persisted regarding the measurement of various building components and their inclusion in the apartment's area.

Standard 9.1 clarifies these ambiguities. It defines apartment area as measured within the polygon formed by the outer faces of the apartment's walls and the centerlines of shared walls separating the apartment from other parts of the building. For instance, a wall shared with a lobby will be measured using the same principle as a wall between two apartments. The new standard also specifies that attics with permanent stair access will be included, while those with temporary access, like a ladder, will not. Similarly, a storage unit physically attached to an apartment and accessible only from within will be included, but a storage unit in a common area, such as the building's lobby, will not.